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Accelerate the ad technology evolution.
The Role
Design and build Index Cloud, a globally distributed, multi-tenant compute platform across Kubernetes, bare-metal, and public cloud infrastructure. Own architectural decisions, infrastructure-as-code frameworks, platform APIs, SDKs, deployment systems, networking, storage, and distributed systems solutions. Drive technical strategy through RFCs and design reviews, improve developer productivity with self-service tooling, and mentor engineers across multiple teams.
Summary Generated by Built In
At Index Exchange, we’re reinventing how digital advertising works—at scale. As a global advertising supply-side platform, we empower the world’s leading media owners and marketers to thrive in a programmatic, privacy-first ecosystem.
We’re a proud industry pioneer with over 20 years of experience accelerating the ad technology evolution. Our proprietary tech is trusted by some of the world’s largest brands and media owners and plays a crucial role in keeping the internet open, accessible, and largely free.
We process more than 700 billion real-time auctions every day (in comparison, Google processes 8.5 billion searches per day) with ultra-low latency. Our platform is vertically integrated from servers to networks and runs primarily on our own metal and cloud infrastructure. This end-to-end infrastructure is designed to provide both stability and agility, enabling us to adapt quickly as the market evolves.
At the core of it all is our engineering-first culture. Our engineers tackle internet-scale problems across tight-knit, global teams. From moving petabytes of data and optimizing with AI to making real-time infrastructure decisions, Indexers have the agency and influence to shape the future of advertising. We move fast, build thoughtfully, and stay grounded in our core values.
Cloud Platform Engineering builds the platform that makes all of this possible. We architect and deliver the foundational infrastructure—Kubernetes clusters, deployment pipelines, infrastructure-as-code frameworks, container platforms, storage systems—and the software layer on top of it: standard libraries, internal SDKs, platform APIs, and the interfaces that every engineering team at Index Exchange builds on top of. Platform engineering here is software engineering. We don't operate day-to-day; our operational counterpart, Systems Engineering, carries that load. We stay focused on what moves the needle: designing and building systems at scale.
As a Staff Platform Engineer, you will own architectural decisions, deliver large-scale infrastructure projects, and shape the technical direction of a platform that processes more real-time transactions than almost any system on earth.
The vision: We build, scale, and maintain Index Cloud—a multi-tenant, globally distributed compute platform that serves both our exchange workloads and the workloads of every partner in our ecosystem. This is not incremental improvement. It's building a platform-as-a-product at internet scale.
- Build the platform, not run it. You'll design and deliver multi-tenant Kubernetes infrastructure across bare-metal and public cloud, build infrastructure-as-code frameworks that push changes across thousands of servers, and write the standard libraries, SDKs, and platform APIs that every engineering team at Index Exchange depends on. This is the work that takes Index Cloud to the next level.
- Solve hard distributed systems problems. Real-time bidding with sub-millisecond overhead. Multi-datacenter consistency. Deploying safely to a fleet of thousands. Load balancing at a scale where the easy approaches don't work. If the phrase "globally distributed auction system" makes you lean in, keep reading.
- Own the architecture. You'll drive technical direction through RFCs and design reviews, set standards for shared platform domains, and make the calls on tooling, security posture, and system design. This is a Staff-level role—you'll influence engineering direction across multiple divisions.
- Make engineers faster. Build golden paths, self-service tooling, and platform APIs that let engineering teams ship without friction. The best platform work is invisible to its users—it just works.
- Mentor and raise the bar. Coach engineers, foster a culture of engineering excellence, and collaborate across Cloud Platform Operations, SRE, Network, Security, and Software Engineering teams.
You've built and shipped platform infrastructure at scale—not just operated someone else's. You think in systems, you're comfortable with ambiguity, and you care as much about the developer experience of your platform as you do about its architecture.
- 8+ years in platform engineering, SRE, infrastructure engineering, or DevOps.
- Deep experience with Linux internals: kernel tuning, network stack, system observability, security.
- Strong Kubernetes expertise: cluster lifecycle, networking, storage, RBAC, multi-cluster—across bare-metal and cloud (EKS, GKE).
- Infrastructure-as-code at scale: Terraform, Ansible, GitOps (ArgoCD or similar).
- Proficiency in Go, Python, or both—for building libraries, SDKs, and platform APIs, not just scripts.
- Solid networking fundamentals (L2-L7), load balancing, DNS, service discovery.
- A track record of driving technical strategy across teams—not just executing within one.
- Distributed storage systems (e.g. Ceph)
- Big data infrastructure: Hadoop, Spark, HBase, Kafka.
- Observability stack design: Prometheus, Grafana, ELK, Mimir, Loki, Tempo.
- Secrets management (Vault), certificate management, access control at scale.
- Hybrid cloud architectures: federating public cloud (AWS, GCP) with on-premises environments.
- Experience with bare-metal infrastructure in globally distributed data centers
Who Thrives Here
We don't care whether you call yourself a platform engineer, an SRE, a DevOps engineer, or a systems engineer. We care that you're passionate about technology, that you get excited by hard problems at scale, and that you can communicate and collaborate as well as you can code. You should be the kind of engineer who:
- Sees a complex, distributed system and wants to understand how it breaks.
- Treats operational readiness as a first-class engineering concern, not an afterthought.
- Prefers building the right abstraction over fighting the same fire twice.
- Can drive alignment across teams without needing a title to do it.
- Finds it genuinely rewarding to make other engineers more productive.
Why you’ll love working here:
- Comprehensive health, dental, and vision plans for you and your dependents
- Paid time off, health days, and personal obligation days plus flexible work schedules
- Competitive retirement matching plans
- Equity packages
- Generous parental leave available to birthing, non-birthing, and adoptive parents
- Annual well-being allowance plus fitness discounts and group wellness activities
- Commuter benefits and discounts, where available
- Employee assistance program
- Mental health first aid program that provides an in-the-moment point of contact and reassurance
- One day of volunteer time off per year and a donation-matching program
- Monthly town halls and regular community-led team events
- Multiple resources and programming to support continuous learning
- A workplace that supports a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment – learn more here
Equal employment opportunity
At Index Exchange, we believe that successful products are built by teams just as diverse as the audience who uses them. As such, we are committed to equal employment opportunities. We celebrate diversity of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or expression, or veteran status. Additionally, we realize that diversity is deeper than any status or classification—diversity is the human experience. For those who show grit, passion, and humility—Index will welcome you.
Accessibility for applicants with disabilities
Index Exchange welcomes and encourages individuals with disabilities to apply to work with us.
If you require an accommodation, please share the details of your request and any information how we can assist you with the hiring recruiter when they contact you. Index Exchange will make reasonable efforts to ensure accommodation requests are met throughout the recruitment process.
Index everywhere, Index anywhere
Our corporate headquarters are in Toronto, with major offices in New York, Montreal, Kitchener, London, San Francisco, and many other global cities. As a major global advertising exchange, we are committed to operating as a tightly knit global team and embracing and empowering talent wherever our colleagues may be.
AI Disclaimer: Automated tools including artificial intelligence may be used to assist in screening and assessing applicants for this role. All hiring decisions involve human review.
Vacancy Status: This posting is for an existing vacancy.
Skills Required
- 8+ years of experience in platform engineering, SRE, infrastructure engineering, or DevOps
- Deep experience with Linux internals, including kernel tuning, network stack, observability, and security
- Strong Kubernetes expertise, including cluster lifecycle, networking, storage, RBAC, and multi-cluster environments across bare-metal and cloud
- Experience with EKS and GKE
- Infrastructure-as-code experience at scale with Terraform, Ansible, and GitOps such as ArgoCD
- Proficiency in Go, Python, or both for building libraries, SDKs, and platform APIs
- Solid L2-L7 networking fundamentals, load balancing, DNS, and service discovery
- Track record of driving technical strategy across teams
- Experience with distributed storage systems such as Ceph
- Experience with Hadoop, Spark, HBase, or Kafka
- Observability stack design experience with Prometheus, Grafana, ELK, Mimir, Loki, or Tempo
- Experience with Vault, certificate management, and access control at scale
- Experience with hybrid cloud architectures integrating AWS or GCP with on-premises environments
- Experience with bare-metal infrastructure in globally distributed data centers
Index Exchange Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Index Exchange and has not been reviewed or approved by Index Exchange.
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Affordable Benefits — Medical, dental, and vision coverage is described as fully paid for employees and often for dependents in the U.S., reducing out-of-pocket costs. While specifics vary by region, public materials consistently emphasize low-premium coverage.
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Parental & Family Support — Parental leave is positioned as generous and inclusive, with birthing parents able to take extended fully paid leave and structured return‑to‑work support. Coverage also extends to non‑birthing and adoptive parents, with fertility benefits highlighted.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Time off combines substantial PTO with additional health days and personal obligation days, expanding rest and recovery options. Volunteer time off and the ability to work from another location for part of the year further broaden flexibility around time away.
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The Company
What We Do
Index Exchange is a global advertising supply-side platform enabling media owners to maximize the value of their content on any screen. As a trusted partner and ally, we connect leading experience makers with the world’s largest brands to ensure a quality experience for consumers. We’re a proud industry pioneer with over 20 years of experience accelerating the ad technology evolution. With our radically transparent business practices and dedication to total market efficiency, we’re committed to upholding the integrity of the programmatic ecosystem at large. Our global teams are dedicated to driving industry standards and building technology that delivers scale, efficiency, and long-term value for our customers and partners. In our workplace, we pride ourselves on fostering an environment of openness where everyone feels connected and supported - a place where you can be your best inside or outside of work.
Why Work With Us
When you join Index Exchange, you’ll be working at an engineering-first company. Our foundation is our technology platform and all of the Indexers who come together to improve, extend, and reinvent it. We invest heavily in building an organization that’s committed to DEI&B, our core values, and our vision of total market efficiency.
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